Apr 2013
Bulls-eye not the only skin rash in Lyme diagnosis
// Filed in: Lyme Disease Diagnosis|Lyme Disease Symptoms
Lyme disease is found in patients whose skin rashes do not look like the bull’s-eye, or so-called “typical” Lyme rash. Skin rashes related to Lyme disease may differ conspicuously from the bull’s-eye type. Lesions may resemble numerous other skin conditions, such as those associated with contact dermatitis, lupus, and spider bites.
“Researchers note that multiple textbooks and websites prominently feature the bull's-eye image as a visual representation of Lyme disease.” They write, “This emphasis on target-like lesions may have inadvertently contributed to an underappreciation for atypical skin lesions caused by Lyme disease.” -- Some Visible Signs of Lyme Disease Are Easily Missed or Mistaken, Science Daily, Apr 22, 2013
Disregard for skin lesions that are unlike the bull’s-eye rash can be a mistake. Early detection and diagnosis is crucial in getting proper treatment, and early treatment is the best prevention for trouble down the road. Steven E, Schutzer, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School,
Clinical diagnosis must consider any skin rash, regardless of its resemblance to the bull’s-eye. Other symptoms may include fever, flu-like malaise, and headache, as well as sensitivity to bright or fluorescent light. Doctors must also consider context, and whether the patient has been in an area where Lyme disease is endemic.
Misdiagnosis is problematic. Get a second, third, or fourth opinion if your doctor does not listen to your concerns, or if he or she disregards unusual skin lesions, or any of your symptoms.
This development in the evolution of Lyme diagnosis is exciting, because it can help medical experts to dispel one of the common myths regarding symptoms that indicate the presence of the Lyme bacteria. Our gratitude goes out to the medical research team who made this discovery, guided by Steven E, Schutzer, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School.
Personal experience taught me what took medical science years to prove. Having had Lyme before these studies were conducted, I am one of the many who did not benefit from the latest research. Instead, doctors and dermatologists insisted that my severe skin lesions were a bad case of eczema and not an indication of Lyme. I was told to “take it easy,” and “get a handle on my stress levels,” and my skin condition would go away.
Nothing like a life-threatening skin rash to make you a little stressed.
Even after being admitted to the ER with a staff infection due to the increasingly spreading rash, doctors believed that only the bull’s-eye rash would signify Lyme. As a result, proper diagnosis and treatment were significantly delayed. Do not let that happen to you or your loved ones.
“Researchers note that multiple textbooks and websites prominently feature the bull's-eye image as a visual representation of Lyme disease.” They write, “This emphasis on target-like lesions may have inadvertently contributed to an underappreciation for atypical skin lesions caused by Lyme disease.” -- Some Visible Signs of Lyme Disease Are Easily Missed or Mistaken, Science Daily, Apr 22, 2013
Disregard for skin lesions that are unlike the bull’s-eye rash can be a mistake. Early detection and diagnosis is crucial in getting proper treatment, and early treatment is the best prevention for trouble down the road. Steven E, Schutzer, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School,
Clinical diagnosis must consider any skin rash, regardless of its resemblance to the bull’s-eye. Other symptoms may include fever, flu-like malaise, and headache, as well as sensitivity to bright or fluorescent light. Doctors must also consider context, and whether the patient has been in an area where Lyme disease is endemic.
Misdiagnosis is problematic. Get a second, third, or fourth opinion if your doctor does not listen to your concerns, or if he or she disregards unusual skin lesions, or any of your symptoms.
This development in the evolution of Lyme diagnosis is exciting, because it can help medical experts to dispel one of the common myths regarding symptoms that indicate the presence of the Lyme bacteria. Our gratitude goes out to the medical research team who made this discovery, guided by Steven E, Schutzer, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School.
Personal experience taught me what took medical science years to prove. Having had Lyme before these studies were conducted, I am one of the many who did not benefit from the latest research. Instead, doctors and dermatologists insisted that my severe skin lesions were a bad case of eczema and not an indication of Lyme. I was told to “take it easy,” and “get a handle on my stress levels,” and my skin condition would go away.
Nothing like a life-threatening skin rash to make you a little stressed.
Even after being admitted to the ER with a staff infection due to the increasingly spreading rash, doctors believed that only the bull’s-eye rash would signify Lyme. As a result, proper diagnosis and treatment were significantly delayed. Do not let that happen to you or your loved ones.
Yolanda Foster speaks about Lyme
// Filed in: Lyme Disease in the news|Diagnosis of Lyme Disease|Lyme Disease Treatment|Lyme Disease Symptoms|Lyme Disease Tests
"The light had gone off in my brain." Yolanda Foster speaks about Lyme.
“We live in the most extraordinary country, with the best doctors in the world. But the truth is, we don't have proper diagnostic testing,” Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Yolanda Foster told the audience at the Gala held for the Lyme Research Alliance on April 6. The LRA honored Foster with the Star Light Award, in recognition for her advocacy and for serving as a role model for people suffering with Lyme.
In her acceptance speech, Foster describes her frightening decline from “being an outspoken, multi-tasking social butterfly, to being trapped in a mentally paralyzed cocoon.” Doctors did not find any indication of Lyme disease in their standard blood tests, so they missed important clues. She knew something was wrong, intuiting that it may have been an infection in her brain. But doctor after doctor misdiagnosed her, advising her to cut back on her busy schedule. She was put on subscription drugs.
“Sleeping pills, Adderall, steroids, and anti-depressants,” she recalls, reciting the litany of drugs she was given. “[But] I was so so not depressed,” she adds. Increasing frustration and annoyance were closer to the mark.
After a two-week stay at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles that achieved nothing, Foster returned home to bed. Hopeless, and believing that in her native Europe she might find a doctor to help, she to embarked on the long flight from California to Belgium. After a test showed spirochetes in her brain, she finally received a correct diagnosis of Lyme Neuroborreliosis and co-infections.
Thankfully, zeroing in on the pathology leads to treatment, but as anyone who has been through this crazy-making process knows, Lyme treatment is a double-edged sword. To begin with, it is not so cut and dry. And antibiotic therapy also causes Herxheimer reactions which can be as debilitating as the symptoms themselves. Friend Suzanne Somers led Foster to the Sponaugle Wellness Institute in Clearwater, Florida. Foster reluctantly left her family to go for a 6-week treatment. She reports that now she feels about 80% back to normal.
The LRA event raised more than $1 million to fund research for finding a cure for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. Doctors Steven Schutzer, M.D., of the University of Medicine and Dentristy of New Jersey, and Mark Eshoo, Ph.D, director of new technology at Ibis Biosciences, were also honored at the Gala and received an award for their significant contribution in research and treatment in the quest to find a cure for Lyme.
Please watch Yolanda Foster's speech.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO8ZDvwTXKw
Interview with director of the Lyme Research Alliance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uDyb0NyRog
“We live in the most extraordinary country, with the best doctors in the world. But the truth is, we don't have proper diagnostic testing,” Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Yolanda Foster told the audience at the Gala held for the Lyme Research Alliance on April 6. The LRA honored Foster with the Star Light Award, in recognition for her advocacy and for serving as a role model for people suffering with Lyme.
In her acceptance speech, Foster describes her frightening decline from “being an outspoken, multi-tasking social butterfly, to being trapped in a mentally paralyzed cocoon.” Doctors did not find any indication of Lyme disease in their standard blood tests, so they missed important clues. She knew something was wrong, intuiting that it may have been an infection in her brain. But doctor after doctor misdiagnosed her, advising her to cut back on her busy schedule. She was put on subscription drugs.
“Sleeping pills, Adderall, steroids, and anti-depressants,” she recalls, reciting the litany of drugs she was given. “[But] I was so so not depressed,” she adds. Increasing frustration and annoyance were closer to the mark.
After a two-week stay at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles that achieved nothing, Foster returned home to bed. Hopeless, and believing that in her native Europe she might find a doctor to help, she to embarked on the long flight from California to Belgium. After a test showed spirochetes in her brain, she finally received a correct diagnosis of Lyme Neuroborreliosis and co-infections.
Thankfully, zeroing in on the pathology leads to treatment, but as anyone who has been through this crazy-making process knows, Lyme treatment is a double-edged sword. To begin with, it is not so cut and dry. And antibiotic therapy also causes Herxheimer reactions which can be as debilitating as the symptoms themselves. Friend Suzanne Somers led Foster to the Sponaugle Wellness Institute in Clearwater, Florida. Foster reluctantly left her family to go for a 6-week treatment. She reports that now she feels about 80% back to normal.
The LRA event raised more than $1 million to fund research for finding a cure for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. Doctors Steven Schutzer, M.D., of the University of Medicine and Dentristy of New Jersey, and Mark Eshoo, Ph.D, director of new technology at Ibis Biosciences, were also honored at the Gala and received an award for their significant contribution in research and treatment in the quest to find a cure for Lyme.
Please watch Yolanda Foster's speech.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO8ZDvwTXKw
Interview with director of the Lyme Research Alliance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uDyb0NyRog